Fiery Trials
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” (1 Peter 4:12-19)
Today’s Morsel: Some of the things you learn in warfare is that some battles are hot and long, while some others are long, but cold. What is the difference you may ask? Well, when you are in a fiery fight with the enemy, those bullets are hot, and the fight can be long. While on the other hand, when you are stressed, fatigued, confused, and perplexed about the home front and loved ones, the battle can be long and cold. But Peter stresses that we should not think any trial as strange when they come against us. Peter reaches back and reminds us of what Jesus had said. “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.” (John 15:18-20) Jesus himself had been tempted by the devil for forty days in the wilderness. And He knew that we, His followers, would also be tempted by the tempter. Paul understood this, and so he informs us: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13) Every one of us is tempted by the same things. So don’t think that what you are being tempted with and going through is unique only to you. You are not the first Bronco to ride and face this bull or wild stallion. Every one of us is going to have to get in the saddle. You can defeat him and win, but you must learn how to rejoice when you are in the saddle, or he will come against you again. Oh, and another thing, don’t allow the trials that you are going through be of your own doing.
Sing: Trials dark on every hand, and we cannot understand all the ways that God will lead us to that blessed promised land; But He’ll guide us with His eye, and we’ll follow till we die; We will understand it better by and by.
By and by when the morning comes, when all the saints of God are gathering home; We will tell the story of how we’ve overcome, we well understand it better by and by.
Thought For Today: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” (James 1:2-3)
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